Obama to ‘Pivot’ to Jobs–Again–in Series of Economic Speeches

The Associated Press reports that President Barack Obama is planning to focus on the economy in a series of upcoming speeches. Since his second inauguration, the president has focused on gun control, immigration reform, and climate change–leaving jobs and the economy aside, though opinion polls consistently indicate that Americans are more concerned about the economy that any of these other issues put together.

Announcing the policy shift, White House aide Dan Pfeiffer said on Sunday night–without irony: “The president thinks Washington has largely taken its eye off the ball on the most important issue facing the country.” He did not mention Obama’s repeated focus on other issues, striking a posture that casts scorn on Washington politics, though the president himself exerts great control over Washington’s policy agenda.

The attempt to “pivot” to jobs is a gesture that President Obama has repeated several times in his presidency, to little avail. Economic growth has continued at a sluggish pace, and while recent months have seen a steady improvement in job creation figures, the Obama recovery remains the slowest in the post-World War II era. Many of the new jobs created have been part-time jobs as a consequence of Obamacare.